GadgetGirlIL

@rhm - thus far my butt has yet to figure out how you and the rest of the riders are capable of being in the saddle so long for so many days straight. I've tried numerous saddles and cycling short combos. I'm also a slow rider so I do spend more time in the saddle on a 200K than someone like @kingston.

The most riding I've done thus far in a weekend was the event put on by Wisconsin Women Cycling where we did back-to-back 105+ mile very hilly rides. I did survive that but I was really glad to be off the bike at the end of the second day.

My goal for 2019 is to do a 300K now that I know that I can ride in the dark (Starlite 200K had a 2pm start and I finished after 2am).

iTrod

Great write up Rudi. You clearly got a lot more sleep during the ride than me. I often wondered how things looked from the front of the pack.

And congrats on your article in the Fall edition of American Randonneur! You had quite the year with two 1200's and an unsupported 1000K!

himespau 

Sounds like a lot of fun.

rhm

Thanks-- and likewise, congrats on your article in the Fall edition of American Randonneur! You too had quite the year with two 1200's!

The LOL was not unsupported-- we started with only one volunteer, serving as sag wagon, drop bag delivery, secret controle, dinner gopher... it's amazing what one person can do, supplemented by the DNF riders, who finished the ride as volunteers. But I digress.

rhm

I suspect more has been written about saddles on BikeForums.net than about any other subject! And everyone, it seems, has a different opinion. For what it's worth, I'm of the hard-saddle-and-no-padding school. Usually that means a hard leather saddle, but lately I've been experimenting with hard plastic saddles-- if there's any danger of getting caught in the rain, I don't want to be riding a wet saddle. On the Mac & Cheese I was on this modified* Cinelli saddle:

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*I cut that hole in the top, and used woodworking tools to thin the top quite a bit, making it a bit more flexible.

himespau 

Are they planning on running the ride again in the future? With all the volunteers you described for 50 riders, it sounds like there may have been more volunteers than riders.

rhm

I definitely got the feeling that the organizer(s) want to repeat this ride. A questionnaire has already been circulated, asking riders what they would do the same, what they would do differently, next time?

himespau 

Asking for rider input on revisions is always a good sign.

kingston 

This was a logistically challenging ride so it won't be an every year thing. Michele mentioned that she might run it again in 4 years. We'll see. 4 years is a long time. We had around 35 volunteers over the course of the event, which is why you didn't see as many local riders on the actual ride. GLR and DR riders were encouraged to do the pre-ride and volunteer to support the event.

unterhausen

I think it's a mistake to run a 1200k every year. Some organizers get away with it, but the rider base thins over time. Endless Mountains was run twice, 4 years apart, and the second time there weren't as many riders. OTOH, that is the kind of ride you might not feel the need to do twice. The 1000k version was run more often, and the last running only had 4 riders. Mac 'n' Cheese probably will have pent up demand in 4 years, hopefully there is the energy to run it.

himespau 

I'm sure they've thought of it, but it used to be that the bridge was closed to automobile traffic on labor day in years past (It's been a while since I lived in Michigan). Don't know if bikes are allowed on for the one day when it is (or was) open to be walked across and running the route in reverse probably wouldn't work out with timing to have riders at the bridge early that morning to ride it when closed.

unterhausen

I hope if they run the ride again, it isn't on Labor day weekend. I am pretty sure there was a lot of traffic on UP that wouldn't be there normally. One of the roads was pretty unpleasant due to traffic for nearly 30 miles, especially since it rained. Reminded me that I want to get an earplug for my left ear.